Interesting article, Mark. I have noted similar feelings afterwards, when I play drums. I have also felt very irritable if I was not able to play when I felt like I needed to. Maybe playing music is meditative.

Maybe any activity that requires simultaneous concentration/immersion results in a meditative state? Sparring also gets that for me.

_________________________"In case you ever wondered what it's like to be knocked out, it's like waking up from a nightmare only to discover it wasn't a dream." -Forrest Griffin

Funny how scientists have to leave their 'safe place' in order to examine this. A recent article in a magazine I have discusses how Buddhism morphs when it travels to different cultures...and wonders if the fields of Psychiatry, and Neurobiology, is where it will 'fit' in our current Western culture.

I suppose looking at 'prayer' in our own backyard would be a career-ender for any 'serious' scientist.

don't want to start a sceptical tone (yeah I do), but I wonder what the results would be for people who nap instead of meditate.

my personal preference - I've meditated in the morning for an hour over a period of time. what I found is that a 1 hour AM meditation doesn't liven, sharpen or brighten my day any more (actually, less) than a cup of coffee and breakfast with the kids to start the day. In fact, I feel much better doing the latter.Want psudo-studies? oh, we got psudo-studies http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/06/drinking-up-the.html

AM coffee + 1 hour PM nap. = more energy frees up the already limited time to spend with wife and kids.

btw, brain structure is always changing... I think if a study was done to compare stress reduction and brain structure/patterns of 30-60 minutes of meditation vs. a 30-60 minute nap - the nap would win significantly.

it's just not as culturally accepted, since it's regarded as either lazy or associated with advanced age....plus, more importantly, nobody can make money teaching napping classes - but there are plenty of meditation instructors.

what happens naturally to some, if not most in a meditation class? they fall asleep and the 'instructor' is there to either talk or gently nudge to stimulate the meditating student prior to them blowing into a full snore. let them sleep! they'll feel energized when they wake up and they will attribute it to the 'deep meditation state' that they were obviously doing correctly, since they feel better.

for true relaxation, take a nap. it cost nothing and you don't need to be trained....so nobody can ever say: "it doesn't work because you aren't doing it right. if you pay me, I'll show you the right way."